


Lay Your Weapons Down

by gunslingaaahhh



Series: Shifter!AU [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: AU, M/M, Shape-shifter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-01
Updated: 2011-10-01
Packaged: 2017-10-24 23:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/269152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gunslingaaahhh/pseuds/gunslingaaahhh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For <span class="ljuser ljuser-name_nova437"><a href="http://nova437.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://nova437.livejournal.com/"><b>nova437</b></a></span>, who asked for a shape-shifting AU. Not sure just how much there will be, but definitely more to come.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Lay Your Weapons Down

**Author's Note:**

> For [](http://nova437.livejournal.com/profile)[**nova437**](http://nova437.livejournal.com/) , who asked for a shape-shifting AU. Not sure just how much there will be, but definitely more to come.

Sometimes when he couldn't sleep, Danny would slip from his building and go for long runs. No one else knew about this, and he made doubly sure no one ever saw him.

In the beginning, when he'd first gotten to Hawaii, he'd check in on Grace. There was a tree right outside her window, and he could watch her sleep from there, soothing the empty ache in his chest for at least a little while. However, since being drafted for Five-0, he had three new people to check in on. It wasn't all three of them each time, of course – even he couldn't be everywhere at once – but he tried for at least one each time, and if he ran three times a week, well, then he could visit all of them.

Never mind that he saw all of them every day of every week _anyway_ ; that wasn't a factor. Human beings were their most vulnerable when they were sleeping, all of their senses shut down while the body rested. Even Steve, who could go from zero to killing you in less then sixty seconds seemed smaller and more fragile when he slept. It made Danny strive to be better, to work harder during the day, so he'd still have these people in the evenings when he couldn't sleep and needed to run and check on them.

Rachel asked him about it one time, when he was picking Grace up for their weekend. He'd spluttered, but she'd always been able to read him better than anyone, and he'd told her that it wasn't like they _knew_ , and if they did wake up, it isn't like they'd know it was him. She'd shaken her head, saying that while his team might not know, their child would. That had started an argument, or the beginnings of one, and he hated to fight in front of Grace.

It wasn't a conversation he was ready to have with his daughter.

~*~

“I'm just saying, I know you're ready to dive in, but I think we should wait. I'm serious, Steve.”

They were ducked behind what used to be a storage shed, getting their gear in place before they went in to storm the abandoned airplane hangar. Steve wasn't listening, just making sure everything was strapped on where it was supposed to be and “yes”ing Danny to death.

As per usual.

“Steven!”

“What, Danny, fuck! In the time it takes HPD and back-up to get here they could rabbit, we need to--”

“They're armed, ok, they are armed and they are _waiting for us,_ ” Danny hissed, a hand firmly clamped down onto Steve's bicep.

Regarding him carefully, Steve adjusted his position on the ground so he was facing Danny fully. “How... Danno, how could you even know that? We did recon on this, remember? They have no idea we're here.”

Carding his fingers through his hair, Danny heaved a sigh. There was no way to explain how he knew without giving everything away. “I just—I'm asking you to trust me, here, ok? Please? It's obviously a lot to ask, but seriously. We go in there now, without SWAT and HPD, and we don't come back out. They know... I'm not sure how, but they know we're here.”

Danny had ignored the flash of hurt on Steve's face at the trust remark, opting instead to keep his face stony, trying to convey his point. Steve was trying to find a way to justify not running in, especially with Kono in his ear asking when they were supposed to move in.

Groaning softly, Steve muttered “we're waiting for back-up, repeat, waiting for back-up. No one moves .”

Kono had something to say about that, but Danny had already pulled his ear-piece out. It wasn't like he actually _needed_ it, he could hear Kono and Chin just fine. The fact that they were half a football field away was a minor detail, like the fact that he could hear the men in the hangar, could fucking _smell_ their firepower as easily as he could smell Steve's sweat and the scent of his shampoo and the deodorant he wore. If he was down wind of them, he probably could've smelled Kono and Chin, too.

He didn't say any of this, didn't mention the fact that he'd never needed the ear-piece or binoculars or any of it. Steve wouldn't have believed him – would've chucked him into the loony bin, if he was being honest – and it would've done more harm than good. Instead, they waited quietly for SWAT to get into position before flash-banging the fuckers in the hangar and going in, taking down the bad guys like the good little task force they were.

There was much back-slapping and commending of Danny for being able to reign Steve in, to which Steve stoically did not reply. Danny could smell the agitation rolling off him in waves, felt slightly bad, then remembered how often Steve steamrolled into situations _without_ back-up and then decided he didn't much care.

In the car on the way back to HQ, it was unusually silent. Steve was upset, if his scent didn't give it away, his body posture certainly would have. Danny wasn't going to get dragged in, though, so he kept his focus on the scenery passing by his window, pretending not to notice the way Steve kept stealing glances.

The other man abruptly pulled off the road, throwing on the hazard lights and putting the Camaro in park.

“How.”

Danny sighed and turned to look at Steve, who had twisted his body so he was facing Danny.

“How what, Steve?”

“How'd you know? Did you get a tip, did HPD have a mole inside or something? Because if you already knew, then I should've known. This operation could've gone differently and--”

“Are you—are you kidding me? I just knew, ok? And also: why would you question the need to wait for back-up? I've been telling you since _day one_ that we need to wait, haven't I? We got them, what does it matter?”

Steve's jaw twitched, but he didn't respond. Danny narrowed his eyes, scenting and listening. He grit his teeth. “You're pissed your super-SEAL know-how didn't save the day, is that it? That it was the lowly haole detective that used a little bit of his hard-won intuition to keep his team safe? Fuck you, alright, get fucked. But first, take us back to HQ so at least _someone_ can do the paperwork.”

Unable to find the words to reply, Steve did as he was told and drove them back, knuckles white on the steering wheel.

Once inside, Danny slammed into his office and got to work, pointedly ignoring Steve when he came to hover at the door, looking like a kicked puppy. Sure, it would've been easier to just _tell_ Steve, reveal his secret, but he wasn't ready. Rachel knew, his entire family knew – it was passed through the mother – and he'd trusted them. He trusted Steve, too, but not with this, not yet. Not when he wasn't willing to just trust Danny.

He glared at the door, narrowing his eyes until Steve withered a little and sulked back to his own office. Huffing a breath, Danny typed with a bit more force than was necessary, pounding his fingertips into the keys. He didn't want to be mad, and he was almost positive he'd need to vent his frustrations somehow; running wasn't going to cut it.

~*~

He didn't get out of the car when they reached Steve's, just stayed where he was, grunting in reply when Steve hesitantly bid him goodnight.

Once home, Danny prowled his apartment until it was late enough and he was sure no one would notice him. He donned a zip-up sweat shirt and a pair of gym shorts, a pair of beat up sneakers in one hand as he quietly let himself out of his apartment. He jogged easily to his usual place, checking in every direction before quickly removing his clothes and stuffing them into the little hidey-hole between a tree and a rock. He took off at run, the night air chilly against his bare skin, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before leaping... and soaring.

He'd missed flying, he hadn't realized how much until he was in the air, powerful wings bringing him higher and higher. It frustrated him that this particular... trait... was only passed from mother to child; he'd have loved to have flown alongside Grace. He caught thermals and just flew, dipping and diving, soaring and gliding. Ideally he'd fly during the day, but he highly doubted Cooper's hawks were found in Hawaii. The last thing he needed was a pack of nosy bird-watchers trying to catch a glimpse of him.

Speaking of glimpses, he hadn't checked in on Grace in a while. He turned wing and headed towards Rachel and Stan's house, coming to rest in the yard a few feet from the tree he usually camped out in. He moved easily from one form to the next, scampering across the grass and up the bark of the tree, climbing until he was sitting just outside her window. It was late and she was asleep, looking for all the world like a little angel. There was a pang in his chest and he clutched his tiny hands to his furry belly, black eyes blinking back tears.

He wondered vaguely if squirrels could cry.

~*~

“Yeah it was weird, he was saying he saw some guy running through the park naked?”

Danny chose that moment to take a sip of his coffee, coughing as it went down the wrong way. Kono paused mid sentence, watching him with wide eyes. Chin came up behind and clapped him on the back a few times.

“You ok there, brah?”

“I'm sorry, naked? In a park? Who?”

“Oh,” Kono said, wrinkling her nose, “some homeless guy or something, I dunno. Well, a homeless guy _saw_ what he thought was a naked man running through the park last night. Actually, it was the one near your building. Guy was a little, uh, in the bag when he told HPD, so I'm betting he probably didn't see what he thought he saw.”

Regaining his composure, Danny agreed, inwardly cursing himself for not being more careful. The idea of just popping up at the tree as a human made him nervous, specifically because some homeless people camped out on the benches in that park. He was going to have to find a new hidey-hole, or something.

Conversation turned to the few vague things they were working on, cases with cold leads and nothing to go on. There hadn't been a call, so Danny ducked into his office to do paperwork. He'd long ago gotten over the post-shift hangover; it had been awful when he was a kid, going out with his mother and sisters. They'd spend the night running free, in their preferred shapes, and in the morning the kids would be sick as dogs.

Grinning to himself a little, Danny remembered how jealous Matt had been when he'd found out Danny could shift. It was almost always girls, passed from mother to daughter; both of their sisters were shifters, and any female children they had would also be shifters. Male shifters weren't an impossibility, but they _were_ rare, and they could not pass the trait on. Danny was convinced this was Mother Nature's way of controlling the shifter population, and he didn't much mind.

Matt had been bummed at first, but he'd gotten over it when he realized all the stuff they could get away with when Danny was a golden retriever or a cute kitten. They met a lot of girls that way.

Still grinning, he called out a happy “come in” when there came a knock at his door. Looking up, his smile faded when he saw it was Steve.

“Hey Danno, brought you some lunch,” Steve said, a hesitant smile on his face. He deposited a brown paper bag on Danny's desk and turned smartly on his heel to leave.

“Whoa whoa, wait just a minute,” Danny called, reaching for the bag and pulling out a sandwich. It was undoubtedly his favorite, from the place around the corner that did subs the way they were supposed to be done. “Why'd you do this? You know Grace wants me to eat better.”

“You had malasadas this morning.”

“I have malasadas _every_ morning.”

Steve only quirked an eyebrow and Danny closed his eyes briefly, tucking the sandwich back into it's bag and placing it to the side. “Steven, there is clearly something else you need my help with, or something. What is it?”

“Uh...”

“C'mon, big boy, use your words.”

“I just—why won't you just tell me how you knew?” Steve blurt out, hands balled into fists at his sides.

“Oh, you're still on that, huh? Fine, shut the door and I'll tell you.”

“Really?” Steve's face lit up.

“If you'll stop sulking, yes.”

Steve shut the door and hurried back over, sitting in the chair across from Danny's desk, waiting and watching him expectantly.

Danny leaned closer, looking around conspiratorially before stage-whispering “you really wanna know?” to which Steve nodded emphatically.

Grinning, Danny beckoned him closer, until he could whisper right in Steve's ear.

Instead, he said at full voice “none. Of your damn. Business.” Steve recoiled back, a hand coming to rub at his ear as he pouted.

“That was un-fucking-necessary, man, really.”

“No, what's unnecessary is you continuing to harangue me about something that's over and done with.” He raised a hand to stop Steve from speaking. “I know you wanna know, because you're nosy about every minute detail of my life, but I am telling you: let it go.”

“What about the next time?” Steve asked hurriedly. “What about the next bust? If you have a tip or something you have to let me know, Danno.”

“I will, ok, I promise. Now will you please drop it?”

Satisfied, Steve said he would and left Danny's office. Danny dropped his head to his desk and grumbled about nosy-as-fuck Navy SEALs and wished he could just shift and sneak out under the guise of an ant or something. Unfortunately, shifting into something so tiny made him nervous, especially considering how most people felt about insects. Instead, he flew through the rest of his paperwork before tucking into his lunch. He didn't want to relent and not be mad at Steve, but it was difficult when the other man brought him his favorite sandwich.

Oh well.

~*~

When the weekend descended, Danny was secretly ok with not having Grace. He'd wanted to spend most of the two days off roaming the island in other shapes, and he couldn't do that with her. Not that he didn't enjoy spending so much time with her, it was just hard that they couldnt share those experiences.

Friday night, almost as soon as he got home, he prowled the apartment, trying to figure out how he could just slip in and out of the building and not have to leave his clothes anywhere. There were no security cameras; he'd asked about the laundry room, even, but the super had just rolled her eyes at him. He could get away with shifting into something small – like the squirrel – and slip out that way. Getting back in would be more of a challenge, but he was confident he could manage.

 _I need to lay off the malasadas,_ Danny thought to himself as he wedged his plump squirrel body out from under the small opening in the screen of his window. It wasn't like he was storing food for winter, there was no need for him to be so rotund. Chittering angrily to himself, he made his way to the bannister before shifting to the hawk and taking wing. He'd checked in on Chin and Kono already that week, which meant it was Steve's turn. Groaning inwardly, he dipped and coasted in the direction of the McGarrett house.

Steve had asked if Danny wanted to come in for a beer, but he had declined, wanting to shift more. Understandably, then, Steve was alone. It was still light enough out for Danny to easily see inside, though as the hawk he would've been able to see regardless.

He wasn't prepared to feel so guilty when he saw Steve; he was sitting in the living room, idly picking at microwaved Indian food. Talons clutching at the tree branch he was perched on, Danny had the sudden image of Steve only ever eating microwave food, or under-twenty-minute meals. They would be healthy, or healthier, but they wouldn't be truly home-cooked. Danny had the sneaking suspicion that Steve only actually cooked when he had people to cook _for_ ; he didn't bother if it was just him. Something in Danny's currently avian heart pinched. He decided he'd call Steve in the morning, see if he had any plans.

~*~

“Seriously Danno, a hike?” Steve asked for the umpteenth time, voice tinny over the phone. “You hate hiking.”

“So sue me, I feel like being out in nature,” Danny replied, five minutes out from Steve's. “And anyway, I'm bored, I'm positive you are bored also, so why don't we just go for a hike?”

In fact, Danny loved hiking, he just preferred to do it in one of his other shapes – Bobcat, Grey fox – as opposed to his human shape. As a human his body was more vulnerable and prone to fatigue, not to mention injury. He wasn't about to inform Steve of this, though.

“Ok, fine, we'll go for a hike. But I get to pick where.”

“It's a deal.”

It ended up being a trail in the same park they'd hiked before, that time with the petroglyphs. It was more heavily wooded, the canopy providing nice shade from the hot sun. Danny was yakking up a storm, Steve just smiling along, when it happened.

They'd been walking on a narrower part of the path, close to a ravine. Steve, always sure-footed, wasn't paying attention because he was too busy laughing at something Danny had said. He plummeted, ass-over-teakettle, down the side of the ravine, Danny screaming after him. His stomach dropped out, watching Steve go over and over down the side, paralyzed with fear. When Steve finally came to rest, he didn't so much as twitch, and Danny had to resist the urge to puke. Instead, he stripped off his clothes and shifted, the Bobcat's nimble paws easily picking through the unsteady terrain.

He shifted back and hurried over to Steve, poking and prodding. When his thumb pressed a little too hard against the side of Steve's knee, the taller man moaned, rolling his eyes open.

“Tha' hurts, 'anno.”

“Yeah? Well I'm glad you're alive enough to feel anything right now, ok? You scared me half to death.” His hands kept flitting over Steve's limbs, checking for breaks or punctures. The only severe injuries appeared to be Steve's knee – and wasn't that a touch of irony – and a nasty looking gash to the side of his head, above his ear.

“Why... why you 'aked? Where your clothes?” Steve asked, squinting first at Danny, then at the top of the ravine.

“Never you mind,” Danny snapped, a slight flush creeping up his cheeks. “Just tell me what I need to do to stabilized your knee so I can haul your ass out of here.”

Steve blinked owlishly at him for a minute before listing what supplies Danny would need. He had to resist the urge to punch something in frustration, because half of what they required was not in Steve's pack, they'd have to improvise. Danny didn't much feel like improvising, though, especially not in the buff. He waited until Steve was preoccupied with doing something in his bag before ducking behind a tree and shifting quickly into the hawk. He dressed and slid on his butt back down the side of the ravine, not meeting Steve's confused stare.

Between the two of them, they managed to stabilize Steve's knee, but Danny quickly realized there was no way he was going to be able to get the both of them back up the side. He could do it easily himself in another shape, and if he could shift into a gorilla or something, they'd be golden. Unfortunately, that was not part of his repertoire, and that left them in a bind.

“How'd you get back up there so fast?” Steve asked, more with it now. “I didn't even see you climb.”

“I, uh, found a slightly easier path – I can't get you up through it, though. Between your leg and your general gangliness, it'll be almost impossible. And before you ask, no, my phone does not have reception.”

“Maybe you should climb back up and see if you can get service... Christ, every time we try to do this, something stupid happens and I get hurt.”

Danny grinned slightly. “At least there was no body this time.”

Steve was going to make a 'not yet' remark but held his tongue. Danny was grateful; he knew it had been there and if Steve had even dared to speak it aloud, he'd have cuffed the other man right upside the back of the head.

“Really, though, if you can manage to get back to the path, you should really try and get through to medi-evac, or I dunno, park rangers or something.”

“I'm not sure how comfortable I am leaving you alone,” Danny murmured. He could smell the scent of wild boar and other larger animals in the area, usually keen on avoiding humans. Unfortunately, Steve's blood had been spilled and that would draw them out if they waited too long, especially if night had a chance to fall. Danny could be tough, as the Bobcat, but he couldn't fend off a herd of boar, no way.

“It shouldn't take you long – I checked the time not even ten minutes back the way we came.” Steve gestured towards the path, “just follow it back the way we came, and I'm telling you, once the trees clear a little you should have bars.”

Danny heaved a sigh, running his fingers through his bedraggled hair. “Yeah, ok. Just... keep your eyes peeled for the native fauna, alright? I heard some rustling and--”

“Rustling, Danno?”

“It isn't funny, Steve. Wild boar can gut and kill a man like it's nothing at all.”

Steve was grinning, but the grin quickly fell when he saw how serious Danny was. “Alright, alright, I'll keep my eyes open. Just be quick and it'll be fine.”

Danny clumsily made his way back up to the path before jogging along it, back the way they'd come. Steve was right, about ten minutes back he had reception. He placed a call and almost ripped a tree down with frustration when the ranger station told him it'd be a few hours yet before they could come down; there had been a rock slide and the service road closest was blocked. Damning his luck, Danny turned and was jogging back the other way when he heard what sounded like Steve, saying “nice piggy, good piggy.”

“Fuck,” he hissed, kicking it into forth gear and coming to a stop at the top of the ravine. There was one – thankfully – wild boar curiously trying to investigate Steve. It was a young one, with tusks that weren't too long, though still long enough to do damage if spooked. Danny didn't want to shift and introduce a new predator if he didn't have to, so instead he made as much noise as humanly possible as he slid back down to Steve. As he'd hoped, the pig bolted, leaving them alone.

“Hey! Did you get a hold of anyone?”

“Yeah, but it's gonna be a while – service road is blocked or something. I told them you aren't dying, so I guess that means you have to wait.”

Steve just nodded, adjusting his position on the ground and trying to get comfortable. The sat shoulder-to-shoulder, talking a bit before falling into silence. Danny was trying to pay attention to Steve and their surroundings at the same, listening in for boar, while trying to appear like he had no knowledge of defense against animals. Which reminded him...

“I have a question: are there any, uh, predator animals native to the islands?” Danny asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Steve regarded him quietly for a moment before grinning. “Nope, Hawaii doesn't actually have any native land mammals, if that's what you're thinking of. Most of what we've got came over on boats, or swam here, or something like that. The biggest issue we'll have right now are the pigs.”

Seemingly satisfied, Danny resumed staring off into the brush. He'd had a feeling that was the case, and as long as it was only one or two pigs, they'd be fine. A herd of them would be a very different story.

~*~

Steve startled awake a few hours later, disoriented and in pain. He shifted and came face to face with a very large, very _angry_ looking boar. It was an adult male, and in his current position, it was absolutely huge. Unable to speak, Steve could just stare, hoping the animal would sniff him and then leave.

No such luck. Glancing around, Steve noted that he'd managed to land in what was probably a nesting area for the pigs, which would explain the rage this animal was currently feeling. He was slightly screwed, because if the boar decided to gore him, there was nothing he could do.

He found himself overwhelmed with shock when there was a sudden yowling, almost like a roar. Gape mouthed, Steve stared as a Bobcat stalked out of the brush, growling and hissing at the big, claws out and deadly sharp. The pig, not knowing what sort of animal this was, turned it's attention to the cat. The cat, almost as angry as the pig was moments ago, reached out with a large paw and swiped a the pig's nose, creating a few large, angry red slashes. The pig stumbled back, snorting and snuffling in pain before deciding it didn't want to mess with whatever had just attacked it. Steve wasn't sorry to see it go.

He was, however, very concerned about the wild animal coming towards him. It was a Bobcat alright, something very decidedly _not_ native to the islands. The closer it got, the more nervous Steve became; there was nowhere for him to go, his back was pressed against a rock. He bit down hard on his lip to keep from crying out for Danny, who for some reason was not beside him.

The cat, practically in Steve's lap now, snuffled at him before purring, a deep rumbling sound. Steve watched it warily, noting the almost blondish tinge to it's fur and the strange blue of it's eyes. Blinking a moment, Steve stared harder and gasped – he _knew_ those eyes. But that was crazy, that was ludicrous--

“Not so much, babe,” Danny said, suddenly before Steve and naked as the day he was born. Gawking, Steve stared him up and down, head whipping around to see where the hell the cat had gone to. He'd said that last aloud, obviously, but where had Danny _come_ from?

“You—you weren't here a second ago, and where is that fucking cat?!” Steve practically shrieked, feeling like his brain was breaking.

“Oh, you mean this one?” Danny asked, his body melting and twisting and _changing_ until the Bobcat was again sitting before Steve, watching him closely.

Steve's only reply was to scream.

~*~

Danny hadn't wanted to do it that way – hell, he hadn't wanted to do it _at all_ – but Steve hadn't really given him a choice. He quickly shifted back and wrapped his hands around Steve's arms, trying to hold him still.

“Steve, Steven! Stop, it's me, it's Danno! I'm gonna explain everything, alright, but you need to stop!”

Still thrashing slightly, Steve stared at Danny with wide eyes, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. He eventually stilled, nodding slowly. Danny sat back, grimacing at the mud and sharp rocks digging into his bare ass.

“Ok... uh, I haven't had to do this since Rachel, so bear with me if I'm a little rusty, ok? My family... or actually, my mother, is... fuck. My mother is a shape-shifter, and so is her mom, and her mom before her, and all the way back to... uh, I'm not sure, but a long time. Anyway, my mother is a shape-shifter, ok, and this is the sort of thing that's like a genetic lottery in terms of passing on the trait to the kids. If it's a girl, guaranteed she's gonna be a shifter, but if it's a boy? Well, Mother Nature decided that the probability of a male being born a shifter should be so... just... nonexistent that the likelihood of it happening would be a million-to-one. So my Ma, she has four kids: me, Matty, and my two sisters. Both my sisters can shift, and the one who has kids? Her daughter can shift too, my niece. Matty can't, and my dad can't. I dunno how I ended up as the one, but I _can_ and so, here I am. You with me so far?” he paused to ask.

Steve nodded slightly, still looking like he'd be bolting if he could walk.

“Ok. Shifters don't come out of the womb able to shift into whatever they want, they have to handle and come into contact with an animal first. You work with what you've got, and in my case, that was Cooper's hawks, Gray foxes, squirrels, and Bobcats. There was a nature preserve, sort of like a fancy petting zoo, where kids could interact with and study animals in the local area. You have to touch it in order to be able to shift into it, you understand? As a kid, the more animals you touch and get a sense of, the more you can shift in to. Once you hit a certain age, though, it doesn't matter how much or how often you handle an animal – you can't, uh, I don't know, get in touch with it's DNA or whatever happens. I'd considered trying a different bird, so I could fly during the day, but it was a dumb idea, I haven't been able to shift into anything new since I was seventeen or so.”

Danny paused again, just to reign in his thoughts and take a breath.

“What happens when you leave your natural habitat?” Steve asked, voice a breathless whisper. “You obviously come from a different ecosystem, what if the game hunters here saw you?”

“If a game hunter here saw a Bobcat running around, what d'you think would happen, genius? I'd be screwed, that's what. Now lemme finish! As I was saying, I _would_ have tried shifting into the animals that are native to the islands, but I can't. So if I want to shift, I have to do it at night. I doubt the neighbors would appreciate seeing a fox or a hawk in their yards during the day.”

“Can you pass the trait on?”

“No. Grace can't shift, and currently, is not aware of the fact that I can. She doesn't know her grandmother or aunts can, or anything. Rachel knows, she accepted it for the most part, but she doesn't want to expose Grace to it yet, doesn't want to freak her out or something.”

“Oh.”

“'Oh' he says, like this is the most natural thing in the world,” Danny huffed. “I respect her wishes, but we – Rach and I – both know that Grace would know somehow, she'd sense it.”

“You still look like you, when you're the cat,” Steve said softly, sufficiently calmed now. “It's your eyes, not the animal's.”

Danny nodded, “yeah, Rach used to tell me the same thing. She said my eyes stay the same no matter what shape I'm in, which is reassuring, I guess.”

“Your... fur... was blonde kinda, too.”

“My fur?”

“Yeah. Bobcats have fur.”

“Ah.” Danny was suddenly very conscious of the fact that he was naked, and cursed himself for shifting while he was still in his clothes, in his haste to get back to Steve. “You wouldn't happen to have a spare pair of pants in there, would you?”

Steve shifted around until his pack slid off and he handed it over. After some rummaging, Danny managed to locate a pair of cargos; he groaned inwardly, because he hated the damn things and they'd no doubt be huge on him. He didn't have a choice, though, it wouldn't do to be naked when rescue arrived.

“So you can change--”

“ _Shift_ ,” Danny corrected, tone stern. “Don't call it a change.”

“Sorry, you can shift into a bunch of different things? And it doesn't matter if it's a full moon or anything?”

“A full moon just makes people act crazy, you know that. And yes, as I said, had I shook hands with all the animals at the zoo as a kid, I could be a whole litany of things. However, my bag of tricks consists of four.”

“Why those animals?”

“Like I said, you work with what you have. Personally I can appreciate variety; one of my sisters chose dogs, just dogs. She can do about seven different breeds. My Ma likes birds and small animals, and my other sister chose birds. She was smarter about it than me, going through a pet store and playing with finches and parrots and sparrows. She's got a good variety of birds happening.”

“How'd you get your hands on a Bobcat?” Steve's eyes were wide and curious now, the corners of his lips pulling into a smile. “Must've been tough.”

Danny shrugged. “It wasn't a big deal; that nature place had two Bobcat kittens, or cubs or whatever, and I asked to pet one. They're pretty tough back in Jersey, though not as much as the mountain lions. That would've been too big for me, I think.”

“Can I see the others?”

“What others?”

“Your other... things.”

“You mean my shapes?” Danny asked, smiling. “I guess so, secret's pretty much out now, anyway.” He backed away, sliding the cargo pants off. Chewing his lip with thought, he shifted down to the squirrel. Steve huffed a surprised laughed, grinning when Danny hopped up onto the other man's good knee.

“Aww, you're cute!” he laughed, reaching out to pet Danny. Chittering angrily, Danny nipped when a finger strayed too close, shifting into the hawk. Steve gasped when sharp talons dug into his flesh, eyes wide when Danny jumped and flapped, coming to land a few feet away. He gave Steve a warning look before walking back over, chirping. Steve leaned in close and stared, noting the blue of Danny's eyes and the golden tinge to his feathers. Satisfied, Danny backed off and slid into the shape of the fox.

Grey foxes were just that, but Danny had a bit of gold mixed in with the silver of his fur, and his eyes were the same blue. He sat quietly next to Steve, who was hesitantly scratching behind one ear. Growing tired of that, Danny turned tail and shifted back to the Bobcat, licking at a paw and glaring before shifting back to himself. He tugged his pants back on, his muscles quivering from the excersion.

“That is amazing,” Steve breathed out. “To go from one to the next like that... wow.”

“I'm the only one in my family who could figure it out,” Danny replied, sitting heavily at Steve's side. “Wasn't sure it was even possible, but figured it'd be worth a shot, you know? So I practiced for hours, until finally I could just slide from one to the next. Not as fast as I did just now, but after about ten minutes or so in each shape.”

“Does it... does it hurt?”

“Nah; it more itches than anything. Human skin suddenly sprouting feathers isn't exactly like being tickled.”

“But it makes you tired.”

“After what I just did? Hell yeah, it makes me tired. I'm not a kid anymore, ok; I think of it kind of like sex,” Danny said, blushing a little. “Your stamina at seventeen is a heck of a lot different than your stamina at thirty-five.”

Chuckling, Steve agreed that it made sense. He froze then, suddenly, when a realization hit, causing him to flail away from Danny slightly so he could face him.

“That's how you knew!”

Danny regarded him, confused. “How I knew what?”

“About the guys, from the bust this week! Hello, you bitched and bitched about waiting for back-up because you knew they were waiting for us, they knew we were coming. Your... your animal senses or whatever the fuck, you could sense them or something.” Steve had a guarded look on his face, like he felt betrayed. “Why didn't you just tell me?”

Gaping, Danny replied “are you kidding me? Because waiting to go in hot and take down a perp is the _perfect_ time to have the 'honey, I'm a shifter' conversation.”

“So, so what, you just weren't gonna tell me?”

“I--” Danny paused, running his hands through his disheveled hair. “I was going to tell you eventually, I was just waiting for the right moment.”

“The right moment.”

“You freaked out when I did the cat thing, remember? That was the reaction I was expecting which is why I hadn't told you yet.”

“Because shifting _right in front of me_ without prior explanation was the right way to go,” Steve snorted. “Yes, that went over great. Danno, all you had to do was sit me down and just _tell_ me... or did you not _trust me_ enough?” he spat, turning away.

Danny didn't say anything, just stared at him. He should've figured the trust thing would come back and bite him; Steve was terrible about letting that sort of shit go.

“Steve, I trust you with my life, with _Grace's_ life, but this? This is completely different, this is _personal_ \--”

“Because I haven't trusted you with personal things about me?!” Steve practically shouted, waving his arms. “Who is more embedded in my life than you, huh? I've let you into _everything_ , Danny, everything. Yeah, I can't talk about classified missions or whatever, but everything else? That isn't fair.”

Not missing the way Steve's bottom lip trembled slightly, Danny heaved a sigh and buried his face in his hands. “I'm sorry, ok? This is very different from that sort of thing, though, alright? You have to understand, if the wrong sort of people found out about me, about my family... they'd turn us into science experiments. I mean, I know you'd ever do that, and I know Kono and Chin wouldn't either. It's just... the idea is terrifying to me that someone could find out. You know a lot of very scary, very efficient military people and all they'd have to do is bug my car or my apartment or something and it'd be all over.”

“If you already know I'd never spill your secret, why wouldn't you just _tell_ me,” Steve near whispered, the hurt very clearly written upon his face. “I'd never let anyone try and do that to you, or your family, Danno, you _know_ that.”

It was time to go for broke, Danny knew, and it shouldn't have been this hard, after already revealing his most dangerous secret.

“If I'd spilled on that secret, then what would've stopped me from spilling _all_ of them, huh? A man can't have his secrets now? Fine, you want everything, you shmuck? Here we go: I'm constantly afraid that something is going to happen to Gracie because of me and I'll never see her again. That anyone who knows me could be hurt because of me, like Rachel or Stan or my family, or Chin and Kono and you. That knowing my secret makes you all a part of it and puts you in danger.”

“Danny--”

“Shut up, I'm not done. Every day we're at work, I'm constantly having near-panic attacks because you don't ever _listen_ to me. I don't tell you not to do things or to wait for me for my health, Steven, I tell you those things because I _care_ and if someone doesn't try, one of these days you're going to bull yourself right into a mess not even your ninja skills can get you out of. I'm scared that Kono's near-hero worship of you is going to get her in trouble. I'm scared that Chin is one heartbreak away from losing his shit completely, no matter how Zen and composed he appears. But mostly, most of all, I am absolutely _terrified_ that you're going to die out there, doing something idiotic. Something I can't control or save you from, and I'd have to live with that and never telling you all of these things I feel.”

Steve had long ago stopped trying to interrupt, instead just sitting and listening. And yeah, Steve does actually listen to him – sometimes – but not usually with this level of laser focus. His eyes track every movement of Danny's arms, and he's keeping tabs on every word. He knew, or had thought he knew, how much Danny cared about the team and the people they knew. He hadn't had any idea how deep that went, though. Danny's heart was too big, he had so much love to give, a need to protect all of those around him.

“--and I can't help that I need to check in on you guys at night, ok, it isn't enough to know everyone goes home safe, I--”

“You check in on us?” Steve cut in, frowning because his own reverie had caused him to miss what was presumably an important point.

Danny froze, hands in mid-air. He pinked up slightly, mouth hanging open before his whole body slumped. “Yeah, I do. Not as, uh, myself, obviously.”

“As one of your shapes.”

He nodded miserably. “I was a hawk the other night, peeking in on you. You'd asked me to come in for a drink and I'd said no, cuz I felt like shifting, you know? But I went by your place later anyway and you were alone, having dinner.”

Steve's frown deepened. “You watched me eat?”

“Way to make it sound creepy,” Danny grumbled. “It's usually later, when everyone has gone to bed--”

“Oh, so usually you're watching me _sleep_ \--”

“I'm making sure you're ok!” Danny shouted. “I need the reassurance that all of you are safely tucked away at night. Is that what you want to hear, babe? It makes me feel better.”

“You could've just come in, rather than sit outside feeling sorry for me.”

“I never said--”

Steve gave him an 'are you kidding me' look. “You don't have to say it. I can see it in your face.”

“I feel sorry that unless me or Kono or Chin or whoever is around, that you're alone in that big empty house. That the only time you have a hot, home-cooked meal is when there is someone else to cook for, because for some reason you won't cook for yourself.” Danny reached over and took one of Steve's hands in his own. “This sounds dumb, but believe me: you're working cooking for. I had a hard time with it too, but then I decided that just because I live alone doesn't mean I can't eat like a human being.”

He didn't let go, and Steve spent a minute looking at his fingers caught up in Danny's hand. He didn't much mind the way it looked, his tanned fingers encircled by Danny's slightly paler, slightly smaller hand.

“Is that part of all the things you feel, the things that you couldn't tell me if I magically died out in the field?” Steve asked, voice soft.

“Maybe. One of them. Sort of.”

“What are the other things?”

Danny opened his mouth to respond but was cut off when they heard a commotion above them, accompanied by a loud “Commander McGarrett! Detective Williams!”. Gritting his teeth, Danny let go of Steve's hand and stood, shouting back up at the rangers. He startled when he felt a tugging on his – Steve's – pants.

“We're going to talk about this,” Steve half-said, half-asked.

“Later, yeah, we can talk about it,” Danny told him, getting out of the way so the rangers could get to Steve. “I can't wait.

~*~

Later took a while to come. Kono gave both of them a stern tongue-lashing, angry that neither she nor Chin got a call, even just to let them know everything was ok. Chin didn't say anything, just stood slightly to the side with his arms crossed over his chest, a quietly cold look on his face. He was pissed, Danny could smell it rolling off him in waves, but he was really good at keeping a handle on his emotions.

“You guys are morons,” Kono finished, eyebrows knit together. “Gigantic effing morons.”

“Sorry,” Steve mumbled for the millionth time, idly picking at the brace strapped around his knee.

“Yeah, you better be,” Kono said, shaking her fist at them before stomping out the door. They'd gathered at Steve's, once the cousins found out about the little 'incident' in the ravine.

“I expect that sort of gallant idiocy from him,” Chin said to Danny, jerking a thumb in Steve's direction, “but not from you. Don't do that to us again, brah, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, my man. Never again, I swear.”

Chin glared a little longer before pulling Danny into a quick hug, following Kono outside and leaving Danny with a sulky Steve.

“Well that is just great. They're pissed and that is just awesome,” Danny voiced, throwing his hands up. “I hope you're happy.”

“Hey, you're the one who made the call to the rangers, you could've called them too.”

Danny flapped a hand in Steve's direction before helping him hobble over to the couch, where the taller man sat down heavily, grunting. He hadn't torn anything in his knee, thankfully, but had sprained it really good and needed to stay off it for a few days. He hadn't been happy, but what else was new.

“Hungry? Want something to drink?” Danny asked, feeling awkward now that they weren't in a life-or-death situation. “And if you say 'beer' I'm punching you – no booze with the painkillers.”

Steve sighed, put-upon. “Fine; there's iced tea, I'll have that. Not sure what's in the fridge, though.”

Danny meandered into the kitchen and did his usual sweep of the area, pouring a glass of iced tea for both of them. There wasn't much at all in the fridge, not enough to cobble together to make a suitable meal, anyway. Grumbling, Danny grabbed a few of the take-out menus Steve kept and brought everything back to the living room.

“Your fridge looks like a refugee camp. Pick a menu,” he said, fanning them out and holding them up for Steve. The other man selected a family owned Chinese place down the street; amazing food, and the delivery girl was cute, to boot.

“So. About that talk...” Steve trailed off, flushing slightly.

“After the food gets here, if you don't mind.”

Food was ordered; awkward silence ensued until it arrived, Danny hastily paying with cash filched from Steve's wallet. Once settled on the couch again, he thought of how to begin. Was there a good way to begin? He didn't much think so.

“Just start with how you feel about me,” Steve said quietly. Danny huffed; yeah, because _that_ was going to be easy.

“All of the things I feel are about you, babe, we'll be here a while.”

Steve shrugged. “I'm not goin' anywhere.”

“Being a shifter means I'm more in tune with... I dunno, the universe or something. Like how dogs can sense emotions and can tell how you're feeling? It's like that. Chin earlier? I can smell how angry he was, could taste it practically. And underneath all of Kono's bluster, I could feel her fear, how afraid she was that something might've happened to us and they'd have had no idea. Same goes with you. I can... feel your feels.”

“Feel my...”

“Yeah.”

“So... what am I feeling right now?”

Danny paused, scenting for a second. He pursed his lips in thought. “Anxious. You're anxious because you're realizing that you haven't been as good about hiding everything as you thought.” He inhaled again. “More fearful than anxious now... what're you afraid of, babe?”

All wide eyes, Steve flustered for a moment, fiddling with his take-out box. “That is so creepy, Danny.”

“Yeah, well... I've felt your feels and your feels... are my feels.”

Steve's head snapped up at that, childish words shoved aside. “What?”

“Why are you such a bonehead? The way you feel about me is the same as I feel about you, ok? Although I think I might be ahead of you as far as that goes. And when my feel is fear, it's because I'm afraid that you might die before I got my chance.”

“Your chance,” Steve breathed, his entire body tense.

“Yeah, to do this,” Danny said, before setting aside their food and leaning in to gently press his lips to Steve's. The taller of the two made a questioning noise in his throat before tentatively reaching up to grip at Danny's shoulders, holding him in place and opening his mouth to Danny's tongue. Danny kissed like he did everything: with his whole self. Steve found himself pushed back against the couch, Danny resting between his legs.

When they finally broke apart, Danny rested his forehead against Steve's. “I'd also be pretty upset if you were dead and hadn't known that I sort of love you.”

Steve jerked slightly, eyes widening. “Oh, my God, Danno.”

“I don't expect it to be like that for you, about me, but... it's something you should know.”

“No, I... sort of... love... you too.”

“Oh... oh yeah?”

“What do my feelings—my _feels_ tell you?”

Danny closed his eyes and scented, and yeah, he could smell the love and affection and nervousness radiating off of Steve. He grinned, nuzzling at Steve's neck. “Your feels are my feels.”

“Exactly,” Steve said, grinning like an idiot.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all of this sooner.”

“I'm sorry I made you feel like you should feel guilty about it.”

“Are we even now?”

Steve paused to think. “Yeah, I'd say pretty close to.”

“Ok smartass, what would even us up?”

“You could kiss me s'more,” Steve grinned, leaning up to lick at Danny's bottom lip.

“Punk,” Danny murmured before diving back in for more.

~*~

Steve was sitting out on the lanai, watching the moon flicker on the water. There was a slight movement to his right and he turned, smiling when he saw a large bird click it's way over, talons catching in the wood.

“There you are,” he practically cooed, holding his arm out for the bird – hawk, he was a _hawk_ , Steven – to hop on to. Gripping tightly but not so much as to cause harm, the hawk chirped a little, a tinge of annoyance to it's rough voice.

“There's spare clothes for you inside,” Steve said, smiling. The hawk hopped down and did it's funny shuffling walk into the house. Waiting, Steve heard the rustling of clothes and the opening and closing of the fridge before Danny strode out, a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt on his person. He handed Steve a beer and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek, settling into his chair by Steve's side.

They'd been doing this thing, this 'we're together' thing for a few weeks now, and so far it was fine. They were still them, just more intimate, and Steve was loving it. He loved having Danny this far into his life, sharing everything. He only wished he could go flying with him.

“Jealousy stinks,” Danny said amiably, sipping at his beer. Steve reached over and smacked him on the arm.

“I'm not jealous.”

“Oh _please_. Lessee, is it my dashing good looks? No? Hmm, alrighty, my incredible sexual prowess? Huh, oh I know! The fact that I can take wing and _fly?_ ” Danny teased, grinning. Steve grumbled but couldn't hide his own smile from breaking through, grabbing Danny and manhandling him over until he was situated comfortably in Steve's lap.

“If anyone should be jealous of anyone's sexual prowess, it should be you,” Steve murmured, nipping at Danny's ear.

“Don't you be smug with me, mister.”

“I do what I want,” Steve said, reaching his hands up under Danny's shirt to tickle slightly. Danny twisted in his grasp, silencing Steve's evil giggles with kisses. They made out for a bit before Danny pulled away, just resting against Steve's chest.

Steve always liked to gripe about how Danny gotten through all of his best defenses, and Danny had tried to tell him “likewise,” but he knew that wasn't really the case. He hadn't left his walls up for Steve to bulldoze through; he'd done the opposite, opening himself to Steve.

He'd made himself vulnerable to Steve, more so than Steve had done, because Steve hadn't torn down his walls and let Danny through.

No, Danny had done the scariest thing, and laid his weapons down.


End file.
